Fossilization and defossilization in second language acquisition

• Main Author: Hirase, Yuka
• Other Authors: Ball State University. Dept. of English.
• Format: Others
• Published: 2011
• Subjects: Second language acquisition.; Interlanguage (Language learning); English language > Study and teaching > Japanese speakers.
• Online Access: http://cardinalscholar.bsu.edu/handle/handle/185690; http://liblink.bsu.edu/uhtbin/catkey/1014799

This study investigates the fossilization and defossilization in the developing interlanguage of ESL students. The subjects were a group of 13 Japanese SL learners who studied at a U. S. University in an exchange program during 1994-95. The students' use of copula, auxiliaries, morphemes and syntactic structures was examined to see the degree to which there were interlanguage changes during the period. A close examination of SL production in form-focused contexts indicates that fossilized errors are more likely to occur when a number of particular conditions are not satisfied, involving a relatively automatized system of conveying meaning, an easy control of topic and a high degree of understanding of the target linguistic structure. === Department of English